05/06/2010

San Diego Brewers--Pat Korn--La Jolla Brew House

What inspires a person to brew beer? Brewing great beer takes passion—and passion comes from extraordinary people. We think San Diego breweries are extraordinary and so are their brewers. So we'd like to introduce a few of them to you—starting with Pat Korn, head brewer at La Jolla Brew House (http://lajollabrewhouse.com).

Pat relocated to the San Diego area in the early 90’s from Napa, Ca. While in Napa, Pat’s favorite beer was Anchor Steam. After working in a winery for about a year in the Napa area, Pat found wineries to be a little boring for his liking, so he headed down to the San Diego area in 1991 to try a new line of work.

When Pat saw that Karl Strauss was recruiting people to work at their Kurtz Street facility (former brewing operations site), he thought it would be a good opportunity to give brewing beer a try. After four months at Karl Strauss, Pat started brewing beer at several of their facilities. Between 1993 and 2001, Pat worked at the old Kurtz Street facility, the current main brewing facility on Sante Fe Street and the Downtown brewery restaurant. He also helped brew a few batches at the Karl Strauss' La Jolla brewery restaurant on occasion.

Pat left Karl Strauss and after a four-year hiatus from brewing, came to La Jolla Brew House to become their head brewer in 2005. La Jolla Brew House, formerly known as Beach House Brewery, opened in 2003 and is currently celebrating their seventh anniversary. Pat is currently the only brewer at La Jolla Brew House.

Over time, Pat’s favorite beer styles have changed. California common/steam beers (lagers) as well as Amber Ales were Pat’s favorites when living in the Bay Area. Nowadays, Pat prefers IPA’s, Imperial IPA’s, Belgian’s and Belgian Dark Ales.

Pat looks at brewing as an art that he developed on his own. The near future at La Jolla Brew House will likely be Pale Ales, IPA’s. Amber Ales, etc. Pat also envisions “indigenous style beers” that use locally grown hops and fruits in the brewing process. And Pat’s “Dream Beer” would be a “Bacon Beer” that would somehow incorporate bacon or bacon flavorings. If this beer ever comes to be, he thinks it would be a very popular style of beer, because as Pat says, “who doesn’t like bacon?”

Stop by La Jolla Brew House when you visit San Diego and say hello to Pat. La Jolla Brew House is located in the village of La Jolla at 7536 Fay Avenue, La Jolla, CA 92037 or call them at 858-456-6279.